Some Misunderstandings

"She... is Shizune?"

Looking at the black-haired girl before him, Uchiha Yue truly found it impossible to reconcile the perfect little girl in front of him with the image of Shizune from the original story.

When Uchiha Yue watched the original series, he always felt that Shizune was a character without any distinct features—sporting short hair, always appearing stiff and formal, and perpetually dressed in that dark gray kimono. Her figure, furthermore, could not be compared to a bombshell like Tsunade. Among the many characters with vivid personalities, Shizune was undoubtedly one of the most unremarkable, and the easiest to overlook.

But what about the Shizune standing before Uchiha Yue now?

With long, flowing black hair and a pink kimono patterned with cherry blossoms, she was an absolute top-tier little girl!

In particular, the adorably dazed look on her face inadvertently struck a chord with Uchiha Yue, making it impossible for him to associate her with the rigid woman from the original work.

The Shizune standing before Uchiha Yue seemed to notice his surprised gaze, and a flush of pink appeared on her fair skin.

Seeing Shizune's adorable reaction, Uchiha Yue felt speechless. How on earth did Tsunade train her? he wondered. How did she manage to turn such a lovely girl into that stiff, unremarkable woman?

However, the blushing Shizune quickly regained her composure, remembering why she had come. She walked slowly toward Sarutobi Shinsuke and bowed, saying, "Teacher Shinsuke, Lady Tsunade sent me to find Yue-kun. I heard he was taking an exam here, so I came to find him. Please forgive me if I've interrupted you!"

Perhaps no one could resist a little girl like Shizune, let alone a "creepy uncle" like Sarutobi Shinsuke.

Watching Shizune bow to him, Sarutobi Shinsuke rubbed his nose and laughed. "So, Lady Tsunade sent you! In that case, let Yue accompany you right away!"

As he spoke, Sarutobi Shinsuke crouched down, nudged Uchiha Yue's shoulder with his elbow, and whispered, "Yue, Shizune is a good girl! Remember to cherish her! Back in my day, I didn't cherish Haruko's kindness, which is why I've been single ever since. Since a girl has come looking for you, don't you dare let her down, understand?"

Staring at his instructor with eyes full of disdain, Uchiha Yue didn't know what to do. He couldn't exactly emphasize that he was only four years old, could he?

Then again, children in the world of Naruto tended to be precocious; didn't Uchiha Obito have a secret crush on Rin?

Moreover, Uchiha Yue had seen several couples at the Ninja Academy, which had given him a certain level of immunity to such things.

When Uchiha Yue's gaze shifted back to Shizune, he looked at her adorable expression and smiled slightly. "Your name is Shizune, right? We're about the same age, so don't be so formal and call me Yue-kun. Just call me Yue, like Teacher Shinsuke does."

As he spoke, Uchiha Yue saw Sarutobi Shinsuke secretly give him a thumbs-up. He rolled his eyes in frustration and continued, "Shizune, let's head to Lady Tsunade's place first. You know how Lady Tsunade's temper is..."

"Mm!"

Before Uchiha Yue could finish, Shizune nodded with a smile and said, "Mm, let's go!"

Hearing her reply, Uchiha Yue bid farewell to Sarutobi Shinsuke and began walking slowly toward Tsunade's residence with Shizune. Because Uchiha Yue had lived two lives and knew how to make girls happy, by the time they reached Tsunade's place, he and Shizune had already become friends who could talk about anything. Shizune even told Uchiha Yue some of Tsunade's preferences, leading him to sigh internally that little girls were indeed easy to trick.

However, just as they were about to reach Tsunade's home, a cold sneer appeared on the corner of Uchiha Yue's mouth.

At the same time, Shizune noticed the sneer and paused for a moment before asking, "Yue, are those two classmates from the Ninja Academy behind us following you?"

"Oh? Shizune, you noticed too?"

Hearing Shizune's words, Uchiha Yue realized he couldn't underestimate her strength!

Indeed, just as they had left the Ninja Academy, he had noticed two sneaky figures tailing them. Originally, Uchiha Yue assumed they were just Shizune's admirers. After all, such things were common at the Ninja Academy; some adolescent boys loved to follow the girls they liked to see where they lived.

But as they neared Tsunade's home, Uchiha Yue realized the people following them were actually familiar faces. He never expected these two to team up and coordinate to stalk them.

However, what surprised Uchiha Yue now wasn't the two stalkers, but Shizune's perception.

He hadn't expected a cute little girl like Shizune to be able to detect followers just as he had.

After all, Uchiha Yue relied on his extraordinary spiritual energy to sense the presence of the two followers.

Shizune, lacking such exceptional spiritual energy, must have developed the ability to spot tails under Tsunade's training.

At that moment, Uchiha Yue realized that Tsunade's teaching wasn't as useless as he had imagined; at the very least, Shizune's competence was proof of Tsunade's educational standards.

But before dwelling on Tsunade's teaching methods, Uchiha Yue felt he should deal with the tails first.

Immediately after...

Uchiha Yue waved his hand casually at Shizune and turned around, saying, "I was wondering who was following me; I never expected it to be you two! Hatake Dansui, Hyuga Anihiko, you followed me all the way here—don't tell me you wanted to see how I train? Could it be... you feel the Hatake Sword Style of the Hatake Clan and the Gentle Fist of the Hyuga Clan are inferior to the training techniques of our Uchiha Clan?"

Just as Uchiha Yue finished speaking...

Sure enough, Hatake Dansui and Hyuga Anihiko could no longer suppress their anger and revealed themselves before Uchiha Yue.

Unfortunately, it was only after they appeared that they realized Uchiha Yue had intentionally provoked them. Only by using sensitive topics like their clans could he successfully goad them into losing their cool and revealing themselves.

However, since they were already standing before him, Hatake Dansui felt there was no need to be timid.

Hatake Dansui walked up to Uchiha Yue with Hyuga Anihiko, glanced at Shizune, and said in a cold tone, "Uchiha Yue, the Hatake Sword Style of my clan doesn't need your commentary! Today, Anihiko and I are here to challenge you. We were just following you because we didn't want to interrupt your date, so don't misunderstand!"

"Exactly! If we weren't worried about ruining your date, we would have challenged you the moment you left the Ninja Academy!"

No sooner had Hatake Dansui finished speaking than Hyuga Anihiko looked at Uchiha Yue with jealousy, clearly envious of his popularity with girls.

Seeing that the two had clearly misunderstood the situation, Uchiha Yue opened his mouth to explain several times, but ultimately couldn't get the words out.

Shizune, seeing that Uchiha Yue didn't even bother to explain, blushed and lowered her head in embarrassment.

Seeing that Shizune had also misunderstood, Uchiha Yue felt bitter. He wasn't some kind of "lolicon" and had no interest in little girls.

Therefore, Uchiha Yue could only vent his frustration on Hatake Dansui and Hyuga Anihiko—after all, they were the ones who came to challenge him!

Uchiha Yue looked at them indifferently, shook his head, and sighed, "Your training is still not up to par!"

"Uchiha Yue, if you don't have the guts to accept our challenge, just say so!"

"Exactly! You think you're someone special just because you look down on our strength?"

Before Uchiha Yue could finish, Hatake Dansui and Hyuga Anihiko flew into a rage, rolling up their sleeves to teach him a lesson.

To their surprise, Uchiha Yue waved his hand lightly and said, "I said your strength is inferior to mine not to reject your challenge, but because I feel I'm running short on time."

As he spoke, Uchiha Yue pointed at Hyuga Anihiko, then at Hatake Dansui, and said directly, "Come at me together! I'm in a hurry!"